Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
ETHER ' S PROPHECIES REJECTED, VER. 1-24
Ether Chapter 6
Ether 6:2 For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the
beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land, it became a choice
land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord;
That Ether should have learned of the flood is not strange, but that the deluge had covered "the
face of this land" is rather challenging. Genesis clearly indicates that water covered the whole
earth, and it did "destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that
is on earth shall die" (Gen. 6:17, R.S.V.; 8:22, I.V.). Some scientists and Bible scholars call the
record of the worldwide flood a myth.
The difficulties involved in the assumption of a universal deluge are now generally acknowledged
by biblical scholars. Not only would the laws of hydrostatics be violated in the accumulation of
such a great mass of water, but the climate of the globe would have been changed, making it
impossible for animals to exist even in the ark. . . . But the story of such a flood can neither be
verified nor disproved historically, and consequently its value must lie in the moral and spiritual
lessons it is designed to teach.'
There are some good reasons why the scriptural accounts should not be brushed aside. Josephus
wrote,
Now the sons of Noah were three—Shem, Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the
deluge. . . . After this they were dispersed abroad on account of their languages, and went out by
colonies everywhere. . . . There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited
the islands .
The opinions of other scholars follow:
Siguenza . . . conjectured that . . . [they] left Egypt for America shortly after the confusion of
tongues . . . . Clavigero considers it proven by the native flood-myths and traditions of foreign
origin that the Americans are descendants of Noah. He quotes the [Toltec] tradition of Votan, who
is declared to have been closely connected with Babel-builders.
According to the common version of the Mexican flood-myths, Coxcox and his wife Xochiquetzal
were the only human beings who escaped from the great Deluge which covered the face of the
earths
The frequent appearance of the Mosaic law, the fall, the deluge, even the virgin birth of
Quetzalcoatl, and the numerous ceremonies, all have copious evidence of Hebrew derivation as
revealed in the Bible.
There cannot be a doubt, with those who have studied the history of that people, that the Toltecs
had a clear and distinct knowledge of the universal deluge, of the confusion of tongues, and of the
dispersion of the people; and even pretended to give the names of their first ancestors who were
divided from the rest of the families upon that universal dispersions
These sources all support the statement of the prophet Ether that "this land . . . a chosen land of the
Lord" (2) was visited by the universal deluge. And furthermore, Ether was given to know that this
land "was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven" (3). Enoch's
city will come down and become united with the New Jerusalem to form Zion.
"There shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion; a new Jerusalem. And the Lord said
unto Enoch, Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there; and we will receive them into our